Strider (CPS-1)
Strider, known in Japanese as Strider Hiryu (ストライダー飛竜), is the first game in the Strider franchise, a side-scrolling action platformer released by Capcom for their CPS-1 arcade board system in 1989. Development Strider was part of a three-pronged collaboration between Capcom and artist circle Moto Kikaku, consisting of this game, the Strider Hiryu manga, and a game for the NES, all sharing the same name.Tane, Kiyofume. The Father of Strider Who Made the Game World Explode: Kouichi Yotsui Discography. Gameside issue 16, February 2009. Translated by Gaijin Punch for Gamengai.com. Accessed 24 Oct 2010. Tatsumi Wada from Motomiya Kikaku was put in charge of the manga; the "consumer version" was given to Masahiko Kurokawa; and the coin-op was handed over to the background artist from Ghosts 'N' Goblins and Bionic Commando, Kouichi Yotsui. Kenzou Tsujimoto, Capcom's CEO at the time, paid for the three men to stay at the Shinjuku Hilton, along with a fourth, unnamed marketing executive from Capcom. Because they were developing an action game, Yotsui pushed hard for a futuristic ninja concept, drawing equal inspiration from both the Shinjuku skyline outside their hotel windows and ninja TV series from the 1960's. During the course of a week, they worked out all three projects' common thread: the year 2048, Kazakh as the initial location, and Hiryu as the main hero.Scion; Dire 51. Interview with Kouichi "Isuke" Yotsui. LSCM 4.0. 24 April 2010. Translated by Gaijin Punch. Accessed 24 Oct 2010. Afterward, Wada went back to Chiba. Yotsui and Kurokawa returned to Osaka, working together to flesh out the rough outline agreed upon in Shinjuku. They created Hiryu's design and sent it to Motomiya Kikaku in Chiba along with a few draft chapters. Each team was then supposed to take this more fully-formed idea and adapt it to their assigned media. Despite this initial intent, Kurokawa and Wada wound up working closely together, writing a well-developed, involved story that became the backbone of both the manga and the consumer version being developed on the Famicom. They wanted Yotsui to follow their ideas, but Yotsui viewed it as a competition to see who could make the best game. He felt it would be "impossible" to tell a complex story in an arcade game, as it would "destroy the gameplay". Thus, the coin-op strayed somewhat from the original outline and built its own story. In particular, Yotsui wanted to take Ghosts 'N' Goblins' gameplay "to the next level", wondering how far he could take an action game "with one lever and two buttons". He wanted to make "an adventure that stimulates the senses", and imagined the player "running, running, running to freedom". He believed that this type of game would best suit the coin-operated arcade format, not a plot-intensive storyline. In creating the coin-op, Kouichi Yotsui drew inspiration from several sources. Rolling Thunder''s multi-layer action, dictated the level design. ''R-Type''s helper characters gave rise to the Option A's. Shirato Sanpei's ''Kamui Gaiden, whose ninja hero was accompanied by animal characters, suggested Options B and C. The non-player characters were also inspired by a variety of sources. The minor foes were originally intended to wear clothes, but most of these ended up getting cut from the final product. The only remaining example of this is the Rascal's fur hat. Tong Poo, the Kuniang M.A. team's leader, was named after a song by Yellow Magic Orchestra, after they had first decided to make her a Chinese martial artist. Other major enemies like Solo, the bounty hunter, were introduced because Yotsui wanted to "show characters that didn't have a direct relationship with Strider or the Grand Master", in much the same way that Darth Vader's hiring bounty hunters in The Empire Strikes Back had. Yotsui felt this would "broaden the scope" of the game's world. To further enhance this feeling of a fully-formed world, Yotsui took the unusual step of reaching outside of his development team. Short cinema scenes were to be added between stages to advance the story, so he made use of a Capcom employee who had graduated from a "language academy" and a few of his friends. Their talents enabled the characters to speak in five different languages: Japanese for Hiryu, English for the Grandmaster and Solo, Mandarin Chinese for Ton Pooh, Russian for General Mikiel and Spanish for Captain Beard Jr. A sixth language, Swahili, was considered for the Amazon Tribeswomen, but Capcom objected against it on the grounds that portraying someone as primitive looked like discrimination. After its completion, how to localize Strider was the source of some debate within Capcom. The overseas division was unhappy with the game's Japanese title, fearing it would confuse Western gamers. Yotsui came up with two alternate titles: Ninja Dynamics and Falcon, thinking that Hiryu's actions would remind the player of a bird of prey. Eventually this name change was seen as unnecessary, it was dropped, and the title was shortened to Strider instead; however, some posters with the Falcon logo were printed up and are still in existence. Story In the year 2048, the world is ruled by a mysterious intergalactic being known as Grandmaster Meio, who holds control of all technology and military on Earth and has created his personal base in an artifical satellite known as The Third Moon. Meanwhile, the oppressive regime of the Kazakh administration, themselves servants of Meio, has led to the creation of rebel forces, who clash with government troops in conflicts all over the world. Eventually, these rebel forces sought out the services of a clandestine group known as the Striders, who were experts of espionage and assassination. The dangerous and most important mission, to eliminate Grandmaster Meio, is given to their youngest and most talented Special A-Class member, Hiryu. With the destiny of humanity in his hands, Hiryu makes his move and infiltrates Russia's Imperial Capital and center of Meio's power, Kazakh SSR. Overview The player controls Hiryu through large side-scrolling stages with anything but a straight path to follow, each crowded with a variety of enemies and creative bosses. Hiryu travels through five locations (Kazakh, Siberia, The Flying Battleship Balrog, the Amazons and The Third Moon), facing both Meio's personal armies as well as hired assassins out for his head. Vibrant, colorful graphics and a memorable soundtrack accompany the action at all times. The player advances by overcoming obstacles and eliminating hordes of enemies to reach the stage's end boss. Hiryu's life is represented as a three-unit lifebar positioned at the top left of the screen. Each unit absorbs one instance of damage. The player's number of lives and score are marked below and above the lifebar, respectively. A clock in the top center of the screen shows the time remaining for the player to move through the current section of the stage. Each stage has certain checkpoint areas where the timer resets and where the player respawns after losing a life. Controls Strider has a simple two-button layout, one for attacking and the other for jumping. The player has total freedom of movement, being able to jump at any angle and direction and realize acrobatic cartwheels to increase the jumping reach. Hiryu's most recognizable feature, however, is his ability to stick to any surface; the player can cling onto any wall and ceiling and freely move around its length. Hiryu's primary offensive is his signature weapon, the Cypher. The attack leaves an arc of energy in front of Hiryu which can eliminate most non-boss enemies in one strike. Hiryu uses another technique, a slide kick, to avoid certain projectiles. One of this game's unique features is the use of helper robots known as Options. The Options are found in item boxes scattered in each level or carried on by flying enemies. These robots serve as support as they orbit/stand close to Hiryu and attack any approaching enemy. There are three types of Options: Option A (Dipodal Saucer), a small bipedal robot which moves around Hiryu and attacks with ring-shaped lasers; Option B (Terapodal Robo-Panther), a panther-shaped robot which remains at Hiryu's side and lunges at approaching enemies; and Option C (Robot Hawk), which circles in the air above Hiryu and dives down to destroy airborne enemies. Except for Option C, the Options are connected with one of Hiryu's life units, recognized by it changing from green to yellow, and are destroyed if said life unit is lost. Hiryu's Abilities Hiryu's main way to attack is his Cypher, which he swings a single time in front of him, creating an energy wave which damages on contact. Hiryu can make use of this technique in any position (crouching, jumping, while clinging off ceilings or walls), as well as continously by rapid-pressing the attack button. In terms of movement, Hiryu's very quick and easy to handle. By holding a direction before jumping, he can make carthweel jumps to reach farther and move faster, and he can make use of his sickle to cling onto walls and ceilings. Wall-clinging can be done on any surface, plus clinging from below a platform and pressing up makes him flip onto its top. Other known abilities of Hiryu include: Sliding (スライディング) - By holding down and forward in the stick and hitting jump, Hiryu does a quick sliding attack. This attack can eliminate enemies as well as going under certain hazards like projectiles. Acceleration Jump - Named this way in the NES Strider. When Hiryu runs down an inclined slope, he speeds up. Taking advantage of this acceleration, the player can jump farther than normal. It's used sparingly, the most memorable time being during the mountain-side run section of Siberia. Items Several items can be found on each stage, contained within special Item Boxes lying around or carried on by flying enemies. Not all Item Boxes have an item though, and will instead grant either 200 or 400 points after being opened. Enemies themselves don't leave items after being destroyed either. Legacy Reception Strider is fondly remembered, having spawned numerous fansites and retrospectives.Plasket, Michael. Strider. Hardcore Gaming 101. Accessed 21 Dec 2009.Horowitz, Ken. History of: The Strider Series. Sega-16.com. 31 May 2005. Accessed 21 Dec 2009.Fahs, Travis. The Shrouded Past of Strider Hiryu. IGN. 20 Aug 2008. Accessed 21 Dec 2009. Upon its release, Electronic Gaming Monthly was impressed with the Genesis port, devoting portions of three separate issues to it and awarding it with Genesis Game of the Year 1990. It was also the winner of their "Best Graphics" category.The 1991 Video Game Buyer's Guide. Electronic Gaming Monthly. Issue 15. October 1990. Brett Alan Weiss of All Media Guide called the Genesis port "a nice effort and a lot of fun for someone who likes to travel through a dark future Earth killing everything in his/her path with a giant sword", while also noting that "it does get a little repetitious using the same weapon over and over. And the sound your sword makes is annoying from the start. Even so, this is an exciting game."Weiss, Brett Alan. Strider - Review. AMG. Accessed 21 Dec 2009. Nevertheless, upon its completion, Kouichi Yotsui felt that Strider wasn't anything that hadn't been done before. He thought that certain programmed elements, like Strobaya and the Options, did not work as he had hoped. It was rumored inside Capcom that its production costs and delays had negatively affected sales. Under the impression that Strider was an unsuccessful game, Yotsui left Capcom for Takeru (タケル), along with Akira Kitamura and Shinichi Yoshimoto.CRV. Company:Takeru. GDRI. 21 Aug 2009. Accessed 24 Oct 2010. Influence References Category:Games Category:Main Games